LCCI seeks govt’s agenda on economic challenges

Piqued by the growing economic concerns that have continued to negatively impact the real sector, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to unveil his administration’s economic agenda to address the uncertainties affecting investments.

According to the LCCI, the incidence of abandoned projects is on the increase, while capital flow reversals have intensified, manifesting especially in steady decline in the stock market.

The chamber added that the implications of this scenario for the macro economy are quite profound and unsettling, adding that these are certainly not the best of times for the economy, when examined from a fiscal perspective.

The Director-General of LCCI, Muda Yusuf, while citing the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), stated that Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell to 2.35% in the second quarter of 2015, compared to 6.54% in the same period last year.

“The country’s economic growth rate for the Q2 represents a 40% decline from the 3.96% recorded in the first quarter of this year. Manufacturing and the service sector have now entered recession after recording successive decline over the last two quarters. It is believed that manufacturing sector decline in the 1st half 2015 is partly because of tight forex policies by the CBN which made it difficult for manufacturers to acquire imported inputs, among other factors”, he said.

He added that activities of business community needs to compliment government’s activities especially in order to address poverty alleviation, poverty reduction and job creation as the private sector has a big role to play.

He urged the President should give as much attention to economy as he has given to security and anti-corruption in the country, noting that the uncertainty that has persisted from the days of election is a challenge the economy is facing as there is no clear pronouncement on the economy till date.